Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand says she is discussing weapon supplies with the arms industry. She says Canada is currently in the process of boosting weapon supply capacity at an important transportation hub located in Scotland. This is being implemented by Canada to easily supply weapons to Ukraine and other East European countries.
Since March, Canadian forces have delivered cargo weighing up to four million pounds. The Scottish hub called Prestwick is going to be expanded into an air mobility detachment for a third CC-130 aircraft and with a presence of 55 Canadian members of the Armed Forces.
In an Interview conducted on Sunday with Rosemary Barton, CBC’s Chief Political Correspondent, Anita Anand said that Canada is looking into expanding the way by which Canada can assist Ukraine and getting Ukraine even more military aid to the war-riddled country through the transportation hub.
According to the CBC news reports, Ukraine had sent Canada a message earlier this week requesting more armored vehicles, winter clothing, supplies, and Howitzers.
Canada in response had promised Ukraine they will supply the country with 39 armored troop carriers and as mentioned earlier, Anita has said she will be talking with industry leaders to discuss the issue of supplies.
According to Anand, all the NATO countries are trying to strike a balance between the weapons shipment to Ukraine while also maintaining their own armed forces’ weapons supplies.
Anita says this issue is front and center of her mind.
Canada must help Ukraine
Since February, Canada has supplied or committed $626 million worth of military aid to Ukraine.
In an interview with UN Ambassador Bob Rae, when asked about Ukraine’s list of supply-demand/aid, he said Canada will be hard-pressed to deny any requests from Ukraine. Rae says his statement might be a career-ending move but he believes we(Canada) cannot say anything less than a yes. He says this has been his continuous advice to whoever listens, but he also agrees that the government should also decide the pace at which the help can be given.
On Sunday, Anita Anand said some NATO countries have failed to maintain a balance between providing aid and maintaining sufficient resources of their own, this is due to a lack of a robust inventory.
Earlier this week, Anand’s statement was backed up by a Christian Leuprecht. He is a political science Professor at the Royal Military College of Canada who says that since the cold war, the allied countries have considerably restructured their armed forces and have way fewer extra stockpiles than they used to have. So, sensibly, whatever they are giving away today is from their current stockpiles, which will eventually shorten the equipment they are giving away.
As offensive attacks from Russia continue on Ukraine’s both east and south fronts, the requests for aid also increased. Russia also planned to bring hundreds of thousands of soldiers into the ranks when President Putin announced partial mobilization in the region. This week, President Putin also announced that he is not afraid to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia.
Russia has also rapidly begun referendums in occupied Ukrainian territories.
Anita Anand says that Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons was an “act of desperation.”
Canada’s stance on Ukraine’s predicament
Recently, the Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine had made a statement about the war situation, as Russian President Putin continues to threaten Ukraine with nuclear weapons, the ambassador says that the whole world needs to stay strong and not back down from supporting Russia.
On Thursday, Melanie Joly, Canada’s foreign affairs Minister also stated that in the case of Russia’s accountability, Canada is moving forward with prosecution for the “crime of aggression.”
It seems like Canada is an unwavering ally to Ukraine, and the country also seems to be supporting Ukraine with surplus military aid and weapons supply. Canadian officials have also stated that they will keep working to “undermine any lies, the disinformation, and any lunatic messaging, and to make Russia a pariah on the global stage.”
